These verses, more than any other, have guided Blake in developing his personal ministry philosophy. After graduating as a Mechanical Engineer from Texas A&M in 1998, Blake learned the hard way that he must always place his own relationship with God first in his life. Difficult months ministering as a volunteer in churches in the Washington DC area convinced him to lay aside his own pride and begin to depend daily on the strength that can only come from an intimate and passionate pursuit of Christ.

As his passion for full-time ministry grew, Blake was privileged to come back to Grace Bible Church to intern with the college ministry in 2000-01. Here, he developed a passion for the vision encapsulated in 2 Timothy 2:2 – training up future disciple-makers through evangelism and discipleship.

From biblical guidance such as Mathew 28:18-20, Colossians 1:28-2 9, and 2 Timothy 2:1-3, he learned a rather simple principle, “My priorities in ministry to people will always be evangelism and discipleship.” Every other ministry function should serve these two. Practically speaking, this means that he focuses his time on discipling a core group of leaders so that they in turn can reproduce this training in the lives of others who will continue this process of spiritual reproduction. To this end, he seeks to develop within these leaders (1) passion to know Christ more fully through His Word and through prayer, (2) growing conformity to Christ’s character, (3) deeper understanding of the essential doctrine, practice, and values of the Christian faith, (4) understanding of and commitment to the inductive study of the Bible, and (5) commitment to concrete involvement in evangelism and discipleship.

After his internship at Grace, Blake spent the following 2 ½ years at Dallas Theological Seminary studying for his THM and building a young adult ministry at Richland Bible Fellowship alongside his ministry partner Julie Neiman, who became his wife on August 9, 2003. Of all the divine gifts in Blake’s life, none short of salvation is appreciated more than this woman of true Biblical excellence, who ministers both alongside him and to him as a helper, a strength, a support, an encourager, and a fellow-soldier in the life-long battle to advance Christ’s kingdom.

Blake and Julie returned to Grace in January 2004 so that he could serve as one of the College Pastors, which he did until moving to his new role of Small Groups Pastor in August 2006. This role allows Blake to train leaders and develop Bible study curriculum throughout the church. During his time in this role, Blake thankfully finished his long overdue THM degree.